


I swear I'm not dumb, I'm just unmedicated.

by I_Take_Ur_Kneecaps (orphan_account)



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: 2 Impostors, M/M, author doesnt remember the layout of any of the maps so bear with me, because I said so, cyan is there only to die, green and orange are together but they aren't important, so dont get attached, theyre all boys, white is trans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:29:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28091694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/I_Take_Ur_Kneecaps
Summary: White, assigned co-captain of MIRA's Skeld, is super excited to finally visit the Polus base, even if the ship is a little bit old. One problem, though. The job requires communication, more than he could ever know- but people in general seem to gravitate away from him. He has no friends. It doesn't help that he has the memory of a goldfish cracker.Despite this, one of his fellow crewmates approaches him, and when everything goes wrong, can they still talk?
Relationships: Black/White (Among Us), Crewmate/Crewmate (Among Us), Crewmate/Impostor (Among Us), Red/White (Among Us)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 29





	1. Oddly crimson flower

**Author's Note:**

> Good day my ladies, gays, and theys. hope ur doin well :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are preparing but guess what? 
> 
> uh oh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to chapter.

MIRA.

In this late capitalist society, it had risen out of nowhere. Pushed humanity towards further space exploration, and ended up discovering so much new stuff that they made a whole new conspiracy about it.

That wasn't the only thing they did different. MIRA was an equal opportunity employer. People of all types could come and work there, if they had the skill. The main attraction, the space crews, were separated by only one thing. Gender. Meaning, there were three sectors, two for each standard binary gender, and one more for the rest. It was rumored that the non-binary sector had over 40 people in it.

A strange policy of the corporation's was that the crewmates not know each other by name, but instead by assigned color. At least it made way for a fairly easy ranking system. Black and White were the highest in command, though who was captain varied. Next came the primary colors. Red, Yellow, and Blue. Then secondary colors, like Purple or Orange. And last, everything else. Lavender. Magenta. Lime. Pink.

And here he was, sector H's very own White, hiding from his team. 

They hadn't done anything just yet, but he was paranoid. Plus, the plague doctor mask he'd decided to wear over his suit because he was told he could bring an accessory made it sort of hard to see, and he really didn't want to look like an idiot and bump into somebody. And, not being around other people meant no talking.

So he stood in the HQ's greenhouse, looking around. _There's still a little bit of time before we take off. I can marvel at plants if I want to._ One especially caught his eye, and he ran to it, leaning against the little fence to get a closer look. The flower was a beautiful, almost unnaturally bright orange like the highlighter one. White couldn't see it very well, because his glasses weren't on at the moment, but he thought that he spotted little flecks of gold around the edges.

He was, in fact, so enamored in this one plant that he almost missed the one right beside it.

Almost. 

It was small, with triangle shaped petals. A crimson color that made all his alarm bells go off for no reason. He took a few steps back as a safety precaution. _Hey, remember the briefing they gave on those creatures? Couldn't they shapeshift or something? What if that's one of them? No, that's crazy. They said those things could only do minor changes. Just enough so they could fit in a vent._

 _That's what they want you to think._ He squeezed his eyes shut. _Shut up. It's just a dumb little plant._

_If you really thought that, you wouldn't be arguing with yourself._

Something touched his shoulder. White spun around, ready for a fight. It was his crimson colored crewmate, arm still outstretched. "Oh, it's just you." He breathed. "What do you need, Red?"

Red looked down at him for a moment. "I wanted to talk to you." He finally responded. "What? Why?" Red shrugged. "You seemed lonely." 

He wasn't sure whether to feel angry or happy. He chose none.

"Oh. Okay then. What is there to talk about?" He asked. "Well, are you excited for the launch?" As he spoke, the other made little motions White thought were funny. "Oh, am I ever! They even said the ship's so fast it only takes about a month to get to Polus. Can you imagine? a decade ago, it could have been at least a couple years!" Red laughed awkwardly. "Heh, yeah."

Just then, a loud crackling sound came on over the speakers that made him go to cover his ears even though he was still wearing the helmet. _"Attention, all crewmates."_ Said the person he'd met once three years ago that he couldn't remember the name nor title of. _"The Skeld will be departing shortly. Please report to the launch area."_

 _This is it!_ "Come on!" He grabbed the other's hand, any previous thoughts or emotions forgotten. The only thing he felt was like a small child waiting in line at the ice cream place. After a minute, though, they slowed down, and Red attempted to pick the conversation back up again. "Don't you think it's a little bit weird how this base is just sitting there in the sky, supported by nothing but some metal beams? Why would they even do that?"

"Well, the higher up it is, the less energy it takes to get off the planet." White explained. "Plus, after an... incident, they had to take precautions."

"Against what?"

He hesitated. "Well, you know what an 'Impostor' is, right?"

"Yeah."

"Sometimes, one sneaks its way into a group, and they have to get rid of it somehow."

"Can't they just give themselves wings and fly away?" The question struck him as odd. "I'm pretty sure they can only do minimal amounts of shapeshifting. Besides, how would you know?"

"I looked it up."

 _Is he lying or should I be more afraid then I thought?_ White didn't get time to answer his own question as they finally came upon the main room, where 8 other crewmates were waiting. "Only eight?" He wondered aloud. "Where's Yellow? Where's Cyan?"

"Last time I saw Cyan, he was in the cafeteria munching on something." Said Lime, standing in between Orange and Green. "But nobody's seen Yellow for a while now." "And you didn't bring it up?" Interrupted Black. White was sure that under the suit he carried a stern expression. "Listen, I-"

Somewhere far away, there was a scream. Orange stood straight up. "That sounded like Cyan!" He said, then ran off in the direction of the noise. Green followed close behind. Before he could process anything, he was grabbed by the arm and being pulled along. He tried to keep a steady pace with Black, who unfortunately was much taller than he was. _Nobody's dead, you know. Still, I am lucky to have such a competent work partner._

Then, suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Cyan was being comforted by his dads a few feet away. The floor was a bright red. Thing was, it wasn't supposed to be. In the very middle of the room sat the bottom half of a man in a yellow space suit with half his spine still hanging out.

_Yellow?_

The speakers crackled. 

_"All traveling crew, please board the Skeld immediately. Launch will proceed soon."_

And just like that, everything he thought the trip would be was completely thrown out of the HQ and left to fall and die. "Let's go." Commanded Black, tugging on his arm and motioning for the others in the room. "But... Yellow..." White whispered. "We can't do anything for him now. The only thing we can do is report it and go on with the mission."

For some reason he felt it wouldn't be so simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yikesaroonie on a stick


	2. Grapes are exceptional

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cyan fucking dies....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

White sat on the bed he'd chosen, fiddling with his tablet.

Because of their unexpected loss, Black had pulled everyone into the cafeteria to inform them that he'd be reworking the tasks a little. Then they'd all been dismissed, to go rest or explore until the next 'day', whatever constituted as a day in the middle of space. The tablets did have the time in the corner still, so it was a safe bet that they'd be going by that.

 _Who's he gonna give the reactor to, though?_ He wondered. _Maybe it'll be split between Red and Blue. Wait, they already have the engines and defense systems. Maybe it'll be like trash, where everybody just has it sometimes. Whatever happens, I'll have to check its diagnostics more than everything else. That sucks. Hope I don't forget._

_I should go check it now. Just in case something bad happens._

He nodded to himself and slipped the rest of his outfit back on, then left his room. It would've been quick, as his room was one of the closest to the ladder leading up to the cafeteria, but there was another crewmate in the hallways. "Oh, hey White. I was just heading out to get a little snack. Would you like to come with me?" White thought for a moment. _It can't be that bad. Besides, getting to hang out with someone for once couldn't hurt._

"Alright." He responded, stepping onto the first rung. His fellow crewmate soon followed behind him, despite the fact that he was at least 6 feet away. _He really does move fast._ "You know, they have fresh fruit and stuff here." Said Red. "Really? Do they have grapes?"

"I would guess so."

"Awesome!"

The other tilted his head slightly. "What is so exceptional about grapes?" He asked, and White could imagine there was a soft smile on Red's face. "Oh, red grapes actually help your body to produce testosterone. Or that's what I read, anyway." "Does it not do that normally?"

_You dumb bitch._

"No no, it does, it does, I just thought that was a fun fact, you know?" He rambled, waving his hands around. "I like grapes for their, er- personality, besides that, of course."

Red stared at him before another moment before nodding. "Alright. I will retrieve some. You have made me curious." "Thanks!" He called as his crimson-clad co-worker walked off. He sighed, and took a seat. Red did return, and he was in fact carrying a bunch of red grapes. He set them down on the round table, sat down next to him, and continued talking. "Are you sick?"

He blinked. "What?" "I'm not making an attempt to be rude, I am simply concerned."

"Oh, well, thanks, I guess, but no. As far as I can tell, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, your voice sounds very strained. I figured your throat must hurt." Red explained. White laughed nervously. "You're the first person to notice that in a while, actually. Now that I think about it, I had something to do. Bye!"

And like he'd been called to the office to get picked up early from school, he stood up and ran out the exit that would get him as close to his destination as possible, the middle one. He passed the admin room and cut through storage to get to communications, his main post. When he entered, the little tablet at his side gave a little beep and he removed it to see that just like it was supposed to, software had unlocked and he could do his job. White clicked on a specific application, and moved around the little map of the Skeld until he found the reactor.

When clicked, the program was meant to give a little report on how the tech in the room was doing. It could do this thanks to the signal emitted by the software. The worse and worse the condition was, the more and more vague the report would get.

The concerning thing was that it was one word long.

**_Bad._ **

Most of the software on the ship was interlaced, connected. Meaning, for the most part, if one thing went out, it could kill everyone on it. The only exceptions to this as far as he knew were the lighting, doors, and communications, but even those could be deadly given enough time or the right scenario. But there were a few things that were more important. Mainly, the energy source for the entire ship, which right now had the worst report he'd ever seen.

His hand slammed down on one of the many buttons on the panel. An ear-splitting, high-pitched alarm started blaring.

He started moving towards the reactor, as his crewmates would be doing by now. Every emergency had a different alarm, and in training they had been played so many times that people frequently had to leave because their ears were ringing too badly.

As he rushed past electrical, he noticed that the metal door was closed. _Odd._ Still, there was no time. If the report itself was that simple already, then it was impossible to tell how much time they actually had before all hell broke loose. White heard footsteps coming from a few separate directions, and calmed down minimally knowing that they'd probably have it fixed.

When he reached the room after almost tripping over something in the right engine, Black and Green were at the opposite sides of the room, gloves off, holding their hands to the glowing blue panels used to restart the reactor. Him, along with Orange, Pink, Red, and Brown, held their breath and waited as the lights in the room turned off, then on again, and then the alarm was gone. Lime, Blue, and Purple ran in a moment later. Black put his gloves back on, turned to everyone, and gave the group a nod. "Good time, everyone. It's alright now."

People started to leave, mostly turning left to the cafeteria. White had to re-run a diagnosis, so he head back in the direction he came. Again, he went by electrical, but this time the door was back open. He stopped, though, because something caught his eye. The floors of the Skeld were polished, and shined in the light. However, in the electrical room, the light was very low, so if there was a spark, you could see.

Still, behind the room's first 'wall', there was something that caught the low, flickering light incredibly well, like a liquid or maybe metal.

Cautiously, he stepped inside. White pulled out his tablet, and flipped it around so the screen was facing outwards from him to act as a flashlight. He took a few more steps, peered around the edge, and then immediately wished he hadn't as a wave of nausea passed over him.

The thing about their suits was that they were very tough, or at least that's what they were told. It would take positively inhuman strength to be able to pierce through one even with a freshly sharpened blade. But that hadn't mattered when whatever the hell it was had stabbed Cyan over and over and over, making holes so large you could almost imagine they were actually made by teeth.

_But that's impossible. Nothing has teeth or a mouth that big, and even if something did, how would it get onto the ship?_

_..._

_Unless...?_

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, White flipped his tablet back around and went into an application that was available to everybody on the ship.

**_Report body?_ **

_**Connecting...** _

It took a moment for his tablet to connect to Cyan's. In addition to telling them the time, their tasks, and having several other useful apps, the tablets would also have vitals for each person. As soon as somebody's heart stopped completely, their tablet shut off for everyone except the mission's highest in command, which would be Black this time around. But when somebody reported a body, it had to connect to a corpse's tablet to play the sound to prevent false alarms.

And play the sound it did, a short thing that immediately struck fear into almost anyone in the country because the first thing anybody heard about MIRA was that and the knowledge that if you heard it, something was very wrong.

He made his way towards the cafeteria. Everyone would soon be there, and everyone would assume he was the dead one if he wasn't also there. But his walking speed was considerably slower compared to everybody else, and when he entered the room, his 9 crewmates seated at the largest table in the cafeteria that also held the emergency meeting button.

White avoided looking at Green and Orange, who were sitting next to each other, but spoke to them directly. "I'm sorry." He said. The man's voice was a harsh croak and hard to recognize, but it was still distinctly Green's from the light accent he had. "How?" He asked. _Do I really want to tell everybody that not only is a 16 year old child dead, he was killed?_  
  


_But it isn't my choice. They deserve to know._

"I don't really know," White admitted. "But I think it could be an Impostor. There's no way a plain human could have gotten through the suit like that, and combined with.. Yellow, and the reactor just now, it makes a lot of sense."

The occupants of the room all looked around each other. Because they all knew what that meant. At least one of the people sitting there with them was going to murder them, turn them against each other, or get thrown out into space.

Without a word, both parents got up and went downstairs. Nobody moved to try and stop them. 

White sat down at the table in his spot next to Black, who cleared his throat. "I believe what White says is true. However, there is not much we can do. The grieving need time and leaving someone else to die will not do much good when there is little evidence to incriminate anyone. The most we can do is complete all of our tasks so we can get to Polus. There we have the technology required to tell the human from the not."

Everyone slowly nodded.

"You are dismissed."

Once again, most headed towards the ladder, but White found he couldn't. There were things to do and electrical rooms to clean. He noticed that Black was the only one left at the table.

But he stopped thinking about him as soon as he left the cafeteria. He ignored the immediate sense of unease he felt as he entered the room full of wires and the long noises made by said wires and focused on his task. Before trying anything, he carefully removed Cyan's somehow spotless helmet. It just felt like the right thing to do, like a show of respect.

It was surprisingly easy to lift the body. Cyan had been small, even for 16 year old standards, and the only person on the ship shorter than White. Even so, he'd never had very much arm strength. _There is a lot of blood on the floor though. That's heavy. My suit's gonna stain._ He tried not to look at the dead boy's now exposed face as he walked to go literally throw him in the garbage.

Storage had a huge window covering most of one side, which allowed for an amazing view. It was probably for symmetry and all that, since the storage room was also the same size as the cafeteria, but he found it unfortunate that one of the prettiest things one could see had to be ruined by garbage floating across it. The lever to open the chute was large, but easy to open. It cluncked open and let in the freezing cold vacuum of space. He hurriedly pushed the body through.

It was only there for a split second and then the speed of the ship made it seemingly disappear, but White still waved a little goodbye to the dead crewmate's corpse.

"White."

He jumped. "Hello, Black." He greeted. "What brings you here?"

Black gestured towards the open chute. "You have done good work today. I suggest you get some sleep."

"Thanks, but I'm fine. I still have things to do, plus, it's only, like, 9. At the most."

"It is midnight."

"Oh."

"And, you must be forgetting I have access to everyone's profiles. I know you have an extensive history of health problems, and of staying up incredibly late. I am telling you to at the very least be resting." _That's all on the profile? Well, I guess that would have been something they asked in the interview. Not like I even remember._ He sighed in defeat. "Alright. See you in the morning."

"Take care."

And that was all they said to each other. There was some sort of mutual understanding between them, and while he didn't think it could be classified as friendship, it was better than nothing. He heard the noise again and figured Black had closed the chute.

When he entered the cafeteria, he took a little detour into the 'kitchen' to rinse himself off. The blood came off well. _Maybe it got frozen because space cold._ As he finished drying his arm, he opened the cold container. It wasn't really a fridge, because it was just this big sectioned box on the ground.

He grabbed a few red grapes. _Red._ What was with that guy? Not only had they talked more than once, but one of those times he'd been actively sought out. _Maybe he's just nice. Maybe he wants to be friends._

White smiled to himself.

_I'd like that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor cyan. he just went to spend time with his dads and he ended up getting died. how sad :(
> 
> no im not getting attached to cyan, you're getting attached to cyan
> 
> anyway hope you enjoyed chapeteer, see u next time on 'literally you are so dumb: the book'


	3. Death is not exceptional

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dead boy being ghost,,,, what will he do next????

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mini chapter

The crewmate couldn't believe his eyes. He'd never been the religious type, but Lime had told him that he really hoped there was some sort of afterlife, a sentiment he shared. 

So imagine Cyan's surprise when, after being bitten by some strange creature who'd probably also closed the door to electrical on him that somehow also crawled through the vents despite being at least three times his size, he ended up floating over his own corpse, watching as his own blood spilled out onto the floor, not even caring about the reactor meltdown alarms blaring in his non-existent ears.

He'd just been looking around, poking his head into every room he passed. This one had been dark enough to make him actually step inside to see. Then the air vent had made noises, and he'd ignored it like an idiot, even though his parents had warned him over and over and over and over about impostors, who infiltrated MIRA's ships and had the ability to shapeshift.

When he came to his senses, the door closed, the vent opened, and it was over. Cyan didn't even get to see who killed him, which was a shame, because if he did he'd be haunting the fuck out of them right now.

He just sat there, staring. At some point the doors reopened, but he didn't particularly care. It was only when a light flashed inside that he remembered what had been happening before his demise. He floated up in interest as White found his body, stared in what had to have been shock for a moment, then reported it.

_Hey, my parents are gonna be at the meeting._

_Oh god._

_My parents._

Cyan moved in the general direction of the cafeteria, clipping through the walls as he went, and saw another person already standing there.

Well, not a person, per se, but another being. A ghost. _"Hey, Yellow."_ He greeted, almost scared at the sound of his own voice. _"Fancy seeing you here, eh?"_ Yellow sighed in annoyance. _"Yeah, yeah, kid. Listen, I think someone can see us."_

 _"What? How is that possible?"_ He asked. _"We're dead, aren't we?"_

 _"People can do weird things sometimes. Maybe they're not fully human, either. I'm sure after 70 something years of existing, at least one Impostor would have gotten it on with a person. If not more."_ Cyan snickered. _"Yeah, I bet that must have been fun. 'I can be anything you like.' And then that thing is an alien."_

 _"Impostors aren't aliens, idiot. They originated on earth."_ Yellow reminded him. _"Whatever. Wait, if being part Impostor means you can see ghost, doesn't that mean that the Impostor would also be able to?"_ Realization dawned on the other's face. _"You're right. Well, I'm off to find my murderer."_

_"Wait, can I come?"_

_"Hell yeah, kid. Let's go haunt the shit out of someone."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe i got just a little bit attached to cyan. maybe i will use this as a break from the singular person pov and a plot device all in one. thats a secret ill never tell


	4. Smells like iron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they are hanging out.................. platonically

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it freaks me out how much im saying the characters' names. since they all use the same pronouns i can't just use those which is what i normally do

The shrill sound of the alarm pierced straight through White's ears. He made some miscellaneous noise as he sat up and turned the sound off by pressing the button that showed up. _These tablets sure are great, but they sure are annoyingly great._

He looked up at the time, in a small white font in the upper right corner. 

**_7:00 am EST_ **

_Why is it so early? I'm not getting up right now. Wait, I have to._ The previous 'day', Black had also mentioned something about having a morning breakfast meeting where he would be going over some things and probably doing something else that he couldn't remember. _God damn it._ Despite the other's suggestions, White had only managed to fall asleep at around 5 in the morning. Slightly better than normal, but by no standards good.

He snapped on his helmet and hurriedly put on everything else, which actually just consisted of the gloves, his hat, and his mask. Sleeping in the suits was against company protocol, but it was comfy.

Grabbing the tablet from his nightstand and ignoring the vitamins he had to take, he left his room and climbed up to the cafeteria. Just as expected, the people who were there were all sitting at the middle table. If there were another option, he would have taken it, but there wasn't, so he begrudgingly slid into his seat next to Black. He was also supposed to have Yellow on his right, but he'd died and the crew seemed to leave the fallen's seats alone.

_I wonder what he was thinking, before he died. Was he exited? Anxious? He had to have been killed. Was he scared?_ _And what about Cyan? He was so young. Was he able to hear the alarm? Did he hear me just pass by him?_ The sad thing was, they could never know. He'd never be able to smile thinking about them like he did thinking about his earth friends or his family or even Red. All he'd ever be able to remember would be the mangled corpses, their blood slowly spreading out into a pool on the floor. The cold, hard floor that would be their eternal resting place.

Slowly, the remaining crew filed in. Purple, then Green, and the last were Red and Blue together. White also just noticed they were also matching. They were both wearing little golden crowns that gleamed in the light. _The color goes nicely with Red's suit._

Once the remaining pair slipped into their seats just one empty space away from him, Black cleared his throat.

"I am not going to say I hope you are all having a good day so far, because I know that you are not. We have a grave situation at hand, and there is not much we can do at the moment besides try. That being said, all of your tasks are normal, excluding the obvious. Blue, Red." They snapped to attention as their names were spoken. "I have given you each half of the reactor's tasks. I trust you are up to the challenge. The... remaining wires, trash, and general maintenance have been dispersed evenly among everyone else. Do we all understand?"

No one said or did anything, just stared at him. "Alright. I am assigning the tasks now, since there are no challenges." Black tapped his screen and in a moment their tablets all gave a small beep like his did when he entered comms and the 'task' icon did a sort of dance. White didn't need to click on it to know the basic map of the Skeld was already updated with helpful yellow checkpoints telling you where your tasks were and a full list you could pop in and out of view.

"Get some food and get to work. Have a productive day, everyone."

And with that, everyone was off. White was the first to sprint over to the 'kitchen'. He grabbed what he really hoped was a cinnamon roll because he wasn't looking that was wrapped in some plastic and slid into the nearest hallway, the leftmost one. The medbay stared back at him, and he quickly checked his tablet.

**_Scan yourself in the medbay._ **

He cheered silently to himself and stepped inside. It was almost entirely white, with a faintly glowing round pad in one of the corners and some containers filled with a blue liquid of some sort. He eyed up the vent in the corner nervously. _Nobody would want to kill me, right? I'm too invisible to be a target. Then again, I guess murderous war creatures filled with nothing but rage can't really think too sensibly._

"How does this work?" He wondered aloud. Deciding trying whatever came to mind was better than just doing nothing, he set his untouched breakfast on the counter and stepped onto the pad. Instantly, it lit up with a gridded, sweeping blue and it took all of his self-control to not to scream.

So instead he stood frozen as the light moved from his feet, to the top of his head and back again. As it did this, the little display pad he hadn't previously noticed displayed some information about him.

**_Height-_ **

**_Suit color-_ **

**_ID-_ **

Then, finally, it stopped, and his tablet gave a pleasant little noise like it was rewarding him. White smiled to himself. _At least the machinery likes me._ Somebody shuffled at the doorway and his head snapped over to where the noise had come from. "Oh, Red, it's just you. You really have to stop sneaking up on me like that. It's like you can teleport.

Red ignored the comment. "So, what's your next task? I figured we could talk and do some together."

White thought for a moment. _Well, there's comms stuff. But nobody really gets that. Wires are boring, and I don't wanna burn myself in front of him._ "Isn't it against company protocol to do that or something?" He asked.

"Well, sleeping in your suit is also against company protocol, but I'm sure you've done it."

The statement struck him as odd for some reason, but he couldn't remember why. "Yeah, you're right. I think we should both have the card swipe in admin." The other nodded. "Sounds good, buddy. Lead the way." _Buddy?_ He picked his cinnamon roll back up and exited the room, then took a sharp left turn.

After a moment, Red spoke up again. "Why not just go through the Cafeteria?" He asked. "It's quicker."

"I don't know if people are still in there or not and I don't want to risk it. Plus, what's another minute or two with a... buddy?"

"Oh."

There was an uncomfortable silence as they went through the engine space. "So, does it smell like iron to you?

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I just thought it was odd."

"Not really. As far as I know nobody went and properly cleaned up after... that thing, and the vents here are all connected. How else would an impostor be able to just kill someone and get away?" _Well when you put it like that, I sound like an idiot._ White nodded. "You're right, you're right. If we only knew where any of the vents lead, we'd be able to catch the impostor just like that!" He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

Red made a noise of agreement, and he felt proud knowing that he'd said something his friend approved of.

The admin room was, for some reason, carpeted. It was an incredibly odd flooring choice, but one that it was much, much too late to change. White pulled his ID card out of a pocket and swiped it across the reader nonchalantly. Out of all the things he was bad at doing, swiping the card was absolutely not one. He gestured for his companion to go.

He saw Red hesitate, then take a little step forward, then just make a full attempt. But Red had swiped the card too fast, and the reader machine gave him a disapproving noise. He tried again. In fact, Red proceeded to attempt it at least 7 more times, but each time it was too slow or too fast or too light or too short, and the reader let them both know exactly what it felt about that.

White looked on. He laughed. "Do you not know how to do the card swipe or something?" Red said nothing, but turned around to face him. "It's easy. Look," He said, taking the other's gloved hand and guiding it. "All you have to do is get it at just the right speed and you're set! There!" Red's tablet made the standard pleased noise. 

"Thank you." Red said. White released his hand. "Oh, it's nothing, really. That was just the first thing they taught me in training. And one of the only things I remembered, heh."

His companion grabbed his hand again and he looked back up in surprise.

"So, would you like to just sit and eat for a while? I bet it'll be a minute before everyone else finishes. White said nothing, but just nodded. "Great!"

The pair sat down on the floor criss-cross applesauce like they made you do in preschool. He took off his helmet and finally opened and started eating his cinnamon roll. _This is really good for space food._ He turned the pastry vaguely in his companion's direction. "Want a bite?" He asked. Red nodded, taking off his helmet for the first time around him.

_He's pretty._ _Look at those lips-_

_Stop that._

Instead of tearing off a piece, however, Red leaned over and took a bite straight out of his hand. White could have died right then and there and he'd have no qualms. "It's good. You made a fine choice, White." "It wasn't really my choice." He laughed a little. "I just grabbed something without looking, ya know?" Red looked at him for a moment before getting up and moving around the room, presumably looking for something, leaving him to his cinnamon roll.

White took another bite and pretended like he wasn't watching his companion as he examined something. _You're so dumb. He's just being nice. You've only known him for a few days._

_I don't feel that way about him. It's just been a while since I've talked to someone really so of course the reactions are a little off._

_A little?_

_It's not my fault I was born like this._

_This isn't a birth thing, this is a your parents didn't love you enough thing._

_That's a little bit mean._

_We're the same person._

A soft tap on the shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. White looked up at Red, who was now carrying a piece of paper. "I think I found out where the vents lead." Red explained. He sat up straighter. "Really?" The other nodded, crouching down to show him what he was holding.

It was a map of the Skeld, but different somehow. The paper was a dark blue color, with the lines themselves being white. When he looked closer, he saw that the main thing about it was that instead of being a map of the part you'd see, it was more of the shell. Meaning, where support beams were, and the other important things, like power and air.

Meaning, the vents.

"Woah! This is great!" White exclaimed. "Agreed. I am going to have to examine it further. I will see you later." The man picked up his helmet and disappeared out the door and around the corner. "Oh... alright, bye then." He muttered. White took the last two bites of his breakfast and placed his helmet back on, shoving the trash in one of his pockets to throw away later.

Looking around, he noticed a shiny metal grate in the corner. Letting curiosity take over, he crawled over to it and peered down into the seemingly endless darkness. Air blew all around him, and he felt lucky to have the helmet, otherwise it'd just be all in his face. Carefully, White ran a finger around the edge. To his surprise, it opened up a little, though he also didn't know what else he expected.

He flipped the whole panel open. It made a loud creaking noise, but when he waited nobody came in to check what the sound was. Encouraged by this, White stuck his arm through. His hand hit the bottom once the floor reached his elbow. _So theoretically, I could fit in here, right?_ _No, I shouldn't risk getting caught and framed as an Impostor._ Reluctantly, he retracted his limb and shut the vent, standing up.

White checked his tablet. 

**_Upload data to HQ._ **

_Besides, there's work to do,_ he thought, stretching.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this might be shorter than normal so far, i literally don't know lol
> 
> Also please excuse the thoughts, I'm just basing it off the way I think since I have no idea how you singlets think. Basically, i know it seems like two people, it's not intentional, but i can't change it.
> 
> besides that hope you enjoyed chappter, have a good 6am and drink some water.


	5. A little bit rude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uh oh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the first chapter so far that's been legitimately planned. also one of the impostors is revealed

It had been a few days since anything of any importance happened, and everyone was on edge.

At Red's insistence, White had agreed to sit with him at a table and eat lunch with everyone else. But as he ate his macaroni and cheese, he was reminded of the reason he'd been so reluctant to in the first place. Pink, Lime, and Blue were sitting at the table right across from him and Red, and it was made clear how little they trusted the people around them from the way they all jumped whenever somebody moved too fast.

Red sighed. "Okay, maybe it is a little bad, but it's still fun to sit with me, right?" He asked. "Yeah, of course. I love spending time together. But I can see where they're coming from. You know how scared everyone is, it's the worst-case scenario and nobody knows what to do."

The other said nothing but White got the feeling he was contemplating. He stood up, placed his headwear back on, and turned to face him. "Well, I'm done, so I gotta get back to work. See you later?" Red smiled. "Yeah. Have fun." White waved goodbye as he tossed his trash in the garbage can and left through the same way he always did, through the leftmost exit. 

_I guess it's just the most familiar at this point._ He didn't have to check his tablet again to know the task he'd chosen to do was the wires in electrical- a relatively new one, but one that kept coming up, because every so often something would stop working because the connecting wires had been cut.

Like everyone else, White was nervous about entering the room after Cyan's death, but that was why he had to. Because electrical had been neglected.

On his way, he passed by security. He poked his head in to see if anyone was in there. A brown suit met his eyes. "Hey, I'm just going to electrical real quick." He said. From the chair, Brown snorted. "Good luck. Don't worry, I'll try to keep anybody from killing you." He nodded even though the other couldn't see and continued on his way, watching the blinking red lights of the security cameras as he went.

When White reached the room, he strutted in with a false confidence to ward off any Impostors. _Nobody wants to kill a guy with something to live for. They'd be really loud._

The panel was in the back, close to the vent, which only made him a little bit nervous. It was as soon as his hand touched the exposed panel of wires that White realized he didn't even have the proper tools. He slinked out of the room shamefully and made the turn into storage, where a screwdriver and a sautering iron were sitting on top of one of the boxes in the corner.

He had to jump to get up high enough to grab them, but they were small and close to the edge and fit in one hand.

Adjusting the iron so it wouldn't burn his hand if it got turned on, he made his way back to electrical. On the way, he noticed the camera's red lights were no longer blinking, which did strike him as strange, since Brown never took breaks.

_It's nothing. He's probably just gone to get lunch, because I didn't see him there earlier and everybody gets hungry sometimes._

Without giving himself any more time to hesitate, he walked in and got to work unscrewing the little metal plate that covered the wires. When he was done, he had 8 little screws, which he placed in one of his suit's pockets for later. White placed the sheet on the ground, putting the screwdriver on top of it and examined the four wires. It was like a dog had gotten to them, they were all messed up and he bet he'd have to go back and replace some of the outer lining too. _That looks like a fire hazard. Good thing I got here in time._

Just as he lifted the tool to the first wire, though, the metal door, which was generally left open, snapped shut, leaving him in what could only just barely qualify as lighting. _What?_ He dropped what he was holding and ran to the former exit. He tried pulling on the small edge where the door's two halves met. 

Nothing. Not even the smallest noise.

White pulled out his tablet to find someone to contact, but it was completely dark and wouldn't turn on, which was when he realized that communications had been sabotaged.

He knew how important his job was. It controlled most of the very very important systems on the ship, so only the second-in-command for a mission would ever get it.

But never, in a million years, did he think he'd miss the signs. But he'd ignored the hint he'd gotten, and it would be at least a while before it was fixed, because he of all the crewmates knew comms best. It was an incredibly confusing and difficult job for most people. So not only had he managed to get caught, but he bet this was planned, too. That was the only explanation for how everything lined up so perfectly.

There was a metallic noise, like something was moving around in a hollow metal space, and he instinctively backed into a corner, up against the half wall. White slowed his breathing so it wouldn't make as much noise and listened very very carefully.

More banging, followed by the sound he'd heard when he had inspected the vent in admin.

Whoever it was in there, they were now in the room with him.

A few shuffling footsteps, and then a long _something_ shot out of the darkness and wrapped around his helmet too quick for him to react. The thing attached to it slowly emerged from around the corner, and he would've screamed but the tendril of sorts was already unscrewing the only thing separating it and his face and although White was never really the type for self-preservation, he also didn't feel like dying just yet.

Blue looked at him for a moment longer while his helmet clattered to the floor. "You're the impostor?" He blurted out. The tendril, or more of a tentacle, just without any suction cups on it, wrapped itself around his jaws and he could no longer speak. "Quiet. There's a very specific reason why you're still alive, but I don't need you. You know as well as I do that I could kill you right now and nobody would find your body for a while."

_Don't say that. It's true, and I know it, but I don't need it right now._

"I want you to help me win. It won't be much. Just gain people's trust for me. Maybe spy a little. That's all." _Why would I ever help you? What am I getting out of this?_ Was what he tried to say, but all that happened was he struggled a bit, gave up and got Blue very pissed off at him.

Blue stepped closer, and his strange tentacle thing wrapped around more and more of his body and restricted his movement. From where he was standing, even in the low light, he could see the other person's narrowed eyes through the helmet. "I'm not letting you or anyone else get in my way. If you won't help then I can guarantee that from now on no one's death will be quick. The choice is yours."

White nodded as best he could. Blue seemed pleased.

"Good. The first thing you need to do is gain the trust of the crew. Though with whatever this is, I don't know how you will," The other said, picking up the mask he'd wear on top of the helmet with another spontaneously real appendage, "So I'll just go ahead and help you by replacing it with something more appropriate." He reached into a suit pocket with a human hand and pulled out a bright yellow sticky note, placing it on the glass part.

He couldn't see exactly what, but something was written on the note in a thin black pen. 3 or 4 letters at most. "And if anything important is happening, follow my lead and don't ask questions." With that, he was released, and Blue disappeared once again around the corner, falling back down into the vent. White rubbed the lower half of his face, which had been gripped very tight, than picked up his helmet.

_Does that say 'dumb'? That's a little bit mean. Hey, but it's misspelled! I'm not the dumb one. Well, what can you expect from Angry McMurderface over there? Not about to take it off, though. The last thing I want is to make him more mad._

The door to electrical reopened with a sort of hiss and Black stepped inside. "Are you alright? We were able to get communications up and running again but I was concerned that you were not there." _Concerned about me?_ "No, it's fine. You didn't have to worry." White assured him, putting back on his helmet and walking back to where he'd left the wires untouched.

"...You sure? Not to be disrespectful, White, but you seem rather... shaken. You don't have to tell me if you don't like, but you can."

"Nothing happened." He snapped, melting some of the inner metal part of a bright red wire. _Red._ The crimson crewmate was the complete opposite of Blue in the best ways possible. White was quite glad that the kind man had decided to seek him out on launch day for whatever reason. "-White." "Yeah?" "I was just saying that I would like to have a meeting with you and a few other people after dinner tonight. Can you attend?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." He responded, moving on to connect the two halves of the yellow wire. "Thank you. And please, if you would, stay safe." Black said, and then he was gone, his footsteps disappearing down the hall.

_Why is he acting so weird? Well, to be fair, I don't really talk to him. Maybe he's just like this. I have to try and make friends with everyone else anyways. Maybe I should ask_ them.

White finished connecting the last wires and set down the sautering iron in favor of the screwdriver and metal panel. He lined the holes in it with the holes in the wall and carefully placed a screw in. He spun the screwdriver around and around and around in its little groove until the screw was flat against the rest of the wall. As he continued this for another, he started humming a song he knew.

Not coherently, but the tone was there. It might've been a mixture of multiple, but he wasn't paying very much attention to it. He was focused only on the task at hand, a rare occurrence for sure.

"What are you singing?" Asked Red from behind him. He jumped, and turned around. "Geez. I told you to stop sneaking up on me like that. It's a little weird." "Yeah, I know. Sorry. Habits." _From where? Why would you ever have to sneak up on someone like that?_ White stretched. "Well, I'm just finishing this up and then I have to go to comms." He said.

Red made a noise that he figured meant acceptance. He finished screwing in the last little metal piece and picked the iron back up. "Alright, let's go." He said. "Wait, I have something. You remember a few days ago when I found that blueprint?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I figured out where all the vents can lead, and I marked them out in all different colors. I figured you should have it, because you'll probably do more with it than I would." Red explained, pulling out a folded piece of dark blue paper and handing it to him. When White unfolded it, it was exactly as the other had said. Already, he could see several routes that Blue could have taken the day Cyan was killed, evidence that could get the creature thrown off the ship.

_This is the best thing I've seen so far._ "This is incredible, Red. With this, surely we'll catch the Impostor in no time." "Also, why's your mask been replaced by a sticky note?" Red interrupted. He froze. _Should I tell him? He'd believe me, right? If I told him to keep it secret, right?_ "Oh, that was Blue. Said he wanted me to try talking to the other crewmates." _Only half of the truth works._

"Alright. Well, I should probably get back to my tasks. See you later." The other said, waving goodbye. "Bye, I guess..." He muttered.

Once his friend was out of sight, White continued on his path, placing the tools on another box in storage and entering communications, where he opened his tablet and checked over everything while leaning against the wall in a corner.

**_Good. Working fine, no unusual care required at the moment. Can be left alone._ **

**_Decent, may need to be checked._ **

_That's o2. I'll have to track down Purple to tell him._

**_Decent, will require more power._ **

**_Decent, will require more power._ **

The door to comms closed and he looked up. "Hello, Blue." As he examined the Impostor it was easy to tell he was angry. "You told Red about our interaction?" Blue demanded. _Red told you about what I said?_ "Listen, he asked what the sticky note was about and I didn't feel like lying to him." He said, holding his hands up in a defensive position.

"You're lucky he couldn't have gleaned anything from that sentence, or- Imagine if it wasn't him, and another crewmate who might've reacted badly! You could've seriously hurt my chances with just a few words!" _Really? I'll keep that in mind._ "Well, it's not like I'd care."

The other's weird tentacle thing shot out again and wrapped itself around his thankfully covered neck. _Does he get a hole in his suit when he does that or can he just repair it somehow?_ "That's a lie and you know it. If you didn't care about anyone you'd be just as bad as someone who kills without remorse and you wouldn't have agreed to help me. But you're caught up on feelings." The last word was spat out like a curse.

White pulled at the excess appendage. "I'm not anything like you." Blue crossed his arms. "I know that. Which is why you should start acting like it."

"Okay, I get the message, just leave me alone. It's gonna look suspicious if this door is closed for too long and then you walk out alone." Blue said nothing, but released him. The doors reopened, something that seemed to be both random and completely optimized in Blue's favor. White watched as he stormed out and took a sharp right turn.

A moment later, Purple poked his head inside. "Oh, hey White. Haven't seen you around much. Do you know what's up with Blue? He's been really agitated all day." "No, I've got no idea. I guess he's just like that." He lied. Purple laughed. "Yeah, guess so."

"Hey, while you're here, you might have to check on o2 soon. That's what this thing says, anyway." White said, holding up his tablet. "Oh, I completely forgot about o2! Thanks, bye!"

And then Purple was gone.

He continued checking over the systems.

**_Amazing. Functioning perfectly and can go on for an extended period of time with no interference._ **

**_Currently being checked over..._ **

_Oh, Black's in his spot. As always, I guess. Not that I'd really know. That reminds me, wasn't I going to ask somebody about him?_

_Yeah. Go do that._

_But there is things to do..._

_There's time._

White shut off his tablet and re-attached it to the little band at his hip and started just wandering around the ship until he literally bumped into Lime in weapons. "Oh, it's you. Do you need something?" Lime asked from his spot in front of the wires. "Yeah, actually. So you do know Black, right?"

"Of course. He's the captain, after all. Everybody's talked to him at least a couple times. Why do you ask?"

"Do you think he's been acting weird at all?"

The sparking sound paused. "What do you mean?"

"Just cause, he came by today, I guess after comms got fixed, and he just seemed kinda off to me. But I don't talk to him so I wanted to make sure by asking somebody else?"

"You don't talk to him?"

"That's correct."

"At all?"

"Yeah." _What does Lime know that I don't?_

"Oh. Everybody kinda figured the opposite, what with the way he talks about you and all that." _This is common knowledge?_

"He talks about me?"

"Yeah, a ton. It gets kinda annoying sometimes, but, see, me and Green have this bet and- wait, nevermind. I shouldn't tell you that." Lime said, then lapsing into silence. "You made a bet?" White asked. The other didn't respond, so he just walked away. _Nice talk._

As he went back to his main post, White passed the navigation room, which, unlike every other room on the ship, normally had its doors closed. He didn't really know what Black had in there but he assumed it was important work stuff. Now apparently was an exception though, because just as he walked by the door hissed open and Black stepped out, looked around a little, and then spotted him.

"Ah! White. It's around 7, so I was just heading out to have some dinner. Care to join me? I'm sure the others will be there in no time as well." He thought about what he had just heard for a moment. _What does he really think about me? Does he secretly hate me and is slowly convincing everyone that I'm the Impostor?_

_Shut up, that's ridiculous._ "Sure." White responded, taking hold of the other man's outstretched hand.

_Maybe it won't be terrible to hang out with other people for once._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gpifhq3ipehwuonjw my heart......
> 
> as im writing im like 'why are you all so stupid ugh' before remembering that i am in complete control of these characters and am choosing to do this
> 
> blues had a rough day 
> 
> get ready for next chapter, it's a ghost chapter again. Am I actually very attached to cyan? Will i really be doing this every two chapters for the rest of the book? Thats a secret i'll never tell
> 
> as always thank you for reading and please get a proper amount of sleep


	6. Incredibly rude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ghost boy haunting people and being a snitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ghost chapter ghost chapter ghost chapter ghost chapter ghost ch

_"So, that's why I need your help."_ Cyan explained. _"I know you can't be the other Impostor, so you need to help me find the guy so I have a second person to haunt. It gets pretty boring harassing just the one guy."_

"While I understand where you are coming from, please understand that I do not wish to incriminate any of my crew. That is why I requested for you to keep the identity of the first impostor a secret. However, if I do naturally come across any evidence, I will gladly tell you. If you are not already there, that is."

He nodded vigorously from his spot one inch above the ground. Black cleared his throat. "Anyways, your reasoning for coming here in the first place?" He inquired. _Oh, right._ _"Yeah, comms is down."_ He said. The other shot up out of his seat. "What? How is it down if White is there? Where is he?" Cyan glided a bit closer to him, resting his arm on a panel. _"Calm down dude, I'm sure your boyfriend is fine."_

"He isn't my-"

Yellow floated halfway in, the top part of his torso sticking through the wall. _"Hey, I just checked and... he's in electrical and so is the bad dude. He isn't dead yet though for some reason."_

_"Dude."_

The recently entered looked at Black then back at him. _"Oh. Oops."_

"I am going to react rationally. I head down to communications, fix it, and then check on White in electrical. No problem. Simple." It seemed like the captain was talking more to himself than either of them, but Cyan still cheered. "Yeah! Be inconspicuous and all that!"

Black was still muttering something unintelligible as he reopened the door and walked off. _"Maybe it would have been easier to just not haunt people."_ Yellow commented. _"Easier, maybe, but way less entertaining. It is incredibly fun to mess with him and Blue." "Yeah, you're right."_ Together the deceased crewmates floated in the direction they both knew their target had gone.

Orange, Brown, and Black were all in communications, fiddling around with some buttons or whatever. Cyan had never learned, and now with infinite time on his hands he still wasn't going to.

 _"How long do you think it'll take them?"_ He whispered to Yellow after a few minutes with exactly no success. _"Maybe like 8 more. They don't know exactly but they know more than they did before."_

_"Huh."_

8 minutes later, the system made a happy noise not unlike the one it did when you finished a task and the room's three living occupants cheered. "Good work, everyone." Black said, then quickly rushed out of the room and speed-walked to electrical, where the doors were still closed, much to his disappointment. Cyan got the memo and phased through the wall. 

"I'm not letting you or anyone else get in my way. If you won't help then I can guarantee that from now on no one's death will be quick. The choice is yours." Blue growled, a long extra limb that he vaguely remembered seeing wrapped tightly around most of White, whose helmet was discarded on the floor.

He popped back out into the hallway. _"I'm not gonna lie. It isn't very good, but he still isn't dead yet."_ He said. Black stiffly nodded, and although he wasn't about to Cyan imagined that if he pushed his form just past the man's helmet he'd see tightly knit brows and downturned lips, the same expression his dad would wear when he came home late.

They waited in agonizing silence until finally, finally, the door reopened. _"Finally. I was about to just go stare into space."_

_"Hey, now that you're both here, ask him out."_ Yellow called as Black stepped forward. "Are you alright? We were able to get communications up and running again but I was concerned that you were not there." Black said. _"You're no fun."_ Cyan complained, but he stayed there and watched. "No, it's fine. You didn't have to worry." _"This is happening because you never talk to him. You have to be more direct."_

"...You sure? Not to be disrespectful, White, but you seem rather... shaken. You don't have to tell me if you don't like, but you can."

_"Not like that, you mediocre court jester!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao what a simp. anyway next chapter cyan and yellow get a new friend


	7. Dry pork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> two people fucking die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow i sure do love making characters sad for no reason.

White sat at the table with the other three men, trying to fit in. For some reason completely unknown to him, he'd agreed to eat dinner with Black, and so he sat at the middle table, the largest in the room, with him, Black, Purple, and Lime, quietly taking bites of his only slightly overcooked pasta and pretending like he didn't see Blue staring at him from another table.

"So, what do you think?" Purple asked, turning to face him. _I haven't been paying attention at all._ He froze. "Uh... yeah, probably."

Lime groaned. "Okay fine, so maybe he thinks so too. I guess alcohol really is the only way to solve your problems." "You sound like my mother." White said. "Dude, are any of your parents... good? This whole times you've been making jokes like that." _That's just the only subject I know anything about._ "Obviously they aren't if they had me." He responded.

Everyone at the table laughed. "Parental figures are... interesting." Black admitted. "But at least you're free to do whatever in space now."

"Be gay in space!" Lime yelled. The other crewmates in the cafeteria turned to look at the brightly colored man before continuing with whatever they were doing. _Is this a normal occurrence too? Am I really this unaware of everything?_ Purple nodded. "Be gay in space."

The pair looked at Black.

"What?" The captain asked. "Am I supposed to say it too?"

"Yes."

"Initiation."

_They made a cult without me?_

Black looked uncomfortable. White raised his hand. "If he won't then I can take his place. Be gay in space." Lime cheered. "Yay, peer pressure!" _Lime was really good friends with Cyan, right? Is this how he would have acted, too?_ "Fine, I'll do it. But please do not mention this to anybody else." The brightly colored crewmate nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I know you're just looking to make friends." While he said this, he made a motion of putting two finger guns together.

White blinked. _Hey, haven't I seen that before? What is that, ASL?_ "I didn't know you could sign, Lime." He commented, running his fingers along the smooth surface of his helmet which sat on the floor while he ate. 

Lime tensed up and Purple sighed. "What did you say?"

"I am not looking to have homosexual intercourse! How unprofessional of you to even suggest!" Black protested. Lime got up and ran, Purple following close behind him. He turned to the remaining person at the table, who looked wilted. "What's up, dude?" White whispered. The other looked at him. "Huh?"

"You look sad." He continued. "Is something wrong?"

"Well... It's just, that..."

_What are you supposed to do when people are upset? Hug? No, he might not want me to touch him. Words of encouragement? He's trying to talk._ White settled on flashing him a friendly smile. _Please take that the right way._

"It's not the gay part, because I do like men. It's... it's the sex thing." Black admitted. "What, so you're Ace?" The other jumped like he'd been messing too much with an electrical socket and it shocked him. "Yeah."

White gave him a thumbs up. "Cool! Nice job on coming out, dude." 

"You don't think I'm weird?"

He laughed. "Nah, anything's valid until it's wanting to get with kids. Plus, there's a lab-made race of shapeshifters in our universe." White said. "Man, being able to shapeshift would be so cool."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, then I could make myself something ridiculous like 6"4, make my voice deeper, all that."

Black looked like he was about to say something, but Purple and Lime had slid back into their seats, one of Lime's two hats he always wore stacked on top of each other was flattened and by his side. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable." The headache inducing crewmate muttered. "It is alright, I do not blame you." Black's monotone voice matched his now rigid posture. _What's with the sudden coldness? Space is enough already._

_That was a terrible joke. You should be ashamed._

_Yeah, I know._

Purple took a bite of his food, and made a face. "Awh, this pork tastes really dry. I should've gotten water." He complained. _Why deal with dry pork when you can have pesto pasta no sugar added?_ "Yeah, I did notice that as well. But I was not going to say anything unless somebody else did." Black agreed. _You need therapy._

_We all need therapy._

"Well maybe if you hadn't just done nothing we wouldn't be here right now!"

Throughout the room, heads turned to the source of the noise, a table at the bottom right corner right next to an air vent where Green, Orange, and Pink sat. Orange growled frustratedly. "You can't accuse me! It was sudden and nobody knew but the prick who did it!"

_Are they arguing about Lime?_ White wondered. He felt a sudden pang of regret at not acknowledging the closed door to electrical. _If I had done something, maybe he'd still be alive._

_Or maybe you'd both be dead._

The prick who did it in question was watching with an unreadable expression, an exact copy of Red's, who was sitting right next to him. Pink looked very uncomfortable, Brown was standing in the doorway right by them too far away for him to see, Lime was staring down at his plate, Purple was watching with an expression of interest, and Black looked entirely unsurprised. 

"I'm not trying to accuse you!"

"Then how about you act like it, Green?"

"You know I'm very stressed!"

"That's always your excuse, isn't it? You're not the only person here, you asshole!"

"Why did I even marry you?"

Without a word, Orange stood up and walked off, heavy-footed, pushing past Brown and disappearing down the hall. The room was silent for a moment, then Green picked up both his and his partner's trash, threw it away, and descended down the ladder to the living quarters. Lime sighed. "I'll go talk to him."

And then Lime was gone too.

Slowly, more people started to leave. Pink went down the same way as Orange had left. Purple went downstairs. _Or would it be downladders?_ Red went down to the center hallway, giving White a little wave as he walked by. The only people left in the cafeteria were him, Black, Brown, and Blue. Black cleared his throat. "Alright gentlemen. I suggest we head to the meeting room while we still have time left before we sleep."

_Right. The meeting. I had forgotten. Well, if Blue's at the meeting, that means no one else will die._ Black screwed his helmet back on and started moving towards the center hallway, everybody else simply copying the action.

The meeting room was actually just navigations, Black's main post. It was strange to think that one man controlled the direction of the entire Skeld, but it did make sense. A one person position was much more highly monitored and could be much more easily.

When everyone was in the room, Black pressed a button on the control panel and the doors closed. Even though he knew Blue was the only impostor, White still felt a sense of unease at being trapped in a room with him. "Thank you all for coming. I am simply here to discuss the tasks with you. What do you think of the current system?"

Brown raised his hand but immediately spoke anyway. "I think there is some problem with the distribution. Blue and Red have their posts, miscellaneous tasks and the shared reactor. It would take them both at least two weeks to complete the one-time tasks, never mind the daily or weekly ones, meanwhile someone like Lime could finish his in a few days if he cared enough to try." The captain nodded. "That is true. I hadn't thought of that. Blue, what do you think?"

The Impostor looked startled at being called upon. It might not have been noticed by the others, but since White was paying such close attention to him he could hear the hesitation in his fellow man's voice and saw unnaturally sharp shoulder blades just barely poking out because his shoulders moved slightly forward.

"Well, I do talk to Red a lot and he has had no problems with it. I believe that maybe it should be rearranged a little, however." Blue spoke slowly like the room was full of preschool children. "Exactly. I could take some of the reactor, I'm almost done with my main tasks." Brown continued.

Blue turned his head slightly towards White. _He wants me to speak?_ He guessed. _I guess somebody else taking the tasks would be bad because then the tasks would actually get done and he doesn't want that. Why can't he just say it himself, though? Maybe this is just a test. I hate schoolwork._

He opened his mouth to speak when a sound played from their tablets, all simultaneously. 4 notes, only 4. But what a terrible 4 notes.

"...A body?" Black whispered in disbelief, almost to himself. White was in almost as much shock. _There's another dead crewmate... but if Blue is here, then that means..._

_There's two impostors._

_Oh no._

_Oh no._

_Oh god._

_Everything makes so much sense. But will he tell me if I ask? Can I find out? Do they even talk? What if_

The door reopened with its usual hiss and the other 3 people rushed out of the room. White followed closely behind after regaining his senses. _Who was killed? There's Purple, Lime, Pink, Orange, Green... Well, there was. Now somebody on that list is dead. What a concept._

When his little group reached the cafeteria, Pink was already there. He assumed it had been him that had reported from the way his head so suddenly snapped over at the sound of their footsteps and also he was carrying his tablet. They all stood awkwardly at the table until Purple ran in, then Red, and then Lime and Green. 

Green didn't have his helmet on, so his crushed expression was on full view when he looked around and realized who'd died. _Wait, it's Orange. Orange is dead. Uh oh._ The crewmate's voice was fragile and White was reminded of when he'd reported Cyan's body. "...Where?"

"Electrical." Pink answered hurriedly. "Where were all of you this whole time?"

"Me, Blue, Brown and White were in navigations, holding a meeting." Black answered, and he made some noise of agreement. "I was in the right engine room for a moment and then Purple came in and asked me to help him with something." Purple nodded. "Red's not lying. I was downstairs when my door suddenly opened, and I couldn't get it closed so I decided to track down somebody to see if they could help." Pink looked nervous to be answering last. "I had been inspecting the shields. I thought something was off when I passed by."

"Pink, which exit did you leave from after dinner?" Green whispered.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Answer the question."

"Alright, alright. That one." Pink responded, pointing to the door that lead to weapons and o2. "Why?"

There was a moment's silence.

"You were following him, weren't you?" Green yelled, making at least half the gathered people jump. "You followed him and now he's dead because you killed him!" "No, no!' Pink waved his hands around. "I would never!"

"I don't care what you try to convince me of, I vote to throw you off this ship!"

_Voting? But what if we get the wrong person? It's the only way, but..._ "Come to think of it... I didn't see him at all, and I did a full lap, almost." Purple said. "I was in the little alcove! Behind the wall!"

"That's probably not big enough to hide a person, especially not with such a bright color."

"You could just have not been looking!"

"Whatever you say, dude. I'm voting Pink too."

Red shook his head. "If you really were innocent, I should have seen you. I vote Pink." 

"I was just with Green, so I can only go by what everyone else is saying. You messed up. Go freeze to death in space and pay for killing my friends." Lime's voice was uncharacteristically steely. _More like Blue's than his._ "I vote Pink." Thus far, Blue had remained silent, which was good for White, because he couldn't imagine helping to get somebody killed. It just didn't sit right.

Brown appeared to be thinking. "Now that I think about it... You were pretty close to electrical for Cyan, and at HQ you disappeared for a while and then Yellow was dead... Yeah, I have to vote you out. It's too obvious."

"I choose to skip voting." Blue said. _Thank god. Wait, did Pink still get voted? I hope nobody notices I haven't voted. Bet they won't._

"With a score of 5 votes to eject, Pink has earned the majority. He will be thrown off of the ship immediately." Black said. _5? He didn't vote, either. Why? Does he think of it like I do?_

White was dragged from his thoughts by Pink being grabbed by both of his arms and dragged to the left exit, the closest to storage and, by association, the trash chute. Although he struggled, he was no match for the 3 people plus guards. He didn't want to watch or listen to the man's protests, so he descended the ladder, entered his room, laid face down on his bed, and thought.

He didn't know how long he was thinking for, or if what he was doing even counted as thinking because for a while no coherent thought crossed his mind.

The only thing that did was Yellow. Cyan. What Orange must've been. Green's crushed face, furious tone. The disappointed, accusatory voices. Pink's desperate attempts to defend his innocence. _They don't really think someone like him did that, surely? I didn't know him, but I don't think he would. He was even sitting with Orange like they were friends. Maybe he did go to follow him, to try and calm him down. Like Lime._

_And what if he isn't the impostor? What if there's still a second one running around doing who knows what after this? What happens if they don't figure them out in time?_

There was a shuffling noise and he quickly sat up. Red was closing his door. "God, you almost gave me a heart attack. What're you here for?" White asked. "I wanted to ask you something. Why didn't you vote?" The other asked, sitting down next to him on his bed. He could see the other's eyes at this point due to the pair's proximity, and he avoided them.

"I couldn't risk it. If he wasn't the Impostor, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I just wouldn't be able to exist knowing that I helped end another perfectly sentient being." He admitted. 

Red placed a hand on his shoulder. It was warm, which was fairly odd considering the suits. "You're a good person, you know that?"

White searched his now malfunctioning brain for a good response. "I... uh... Thanks?" He tried. Red just chuckled. "Night, dove." The other said, leaving the room.

_DOVE???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????_

_HUH???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????_

He held his face in his hands and tried to keep his thoughts from going in the wrong direction as the lines replayed over and over and over. _You're a good person, you know that?_ He emitted a high-pitched noise. _If he's the other Impostor, I might as well just cease to exist._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao
> 
> me, typing: who would do such a thing. terrible
> 
> fuck you, asexual character. here we respect aces and aros.
> 
> you may hate me for writing this but you're about to hate me more. fyi pink was not the other imp i just had to get rid of someone by voting
> 
> y'all have NO IDEA what i have planned
> 
> Also I would like to thank you for all the support! I'm just an odd individual typing this out on my school computer (which ao3 isn't blocked on for some reason even though i can freely access nsfw on here but hey im not complaining) in my free time. Thank you to all the readers and the commenters and the people who leave kudos! Originally this was just an impulse project and I never really expected it to gain any traction lol
> 
> fun fact: every time i get a notif and see it's a comment on something i made i go die for a few minutes, read it, try to figure out a way to respond, and then sit there being happy
> 
> also shout out to cyan for being dead. ignore yellow


End file.
